Researchers fully sequence the Y chromosome for the first time

What was once the final frontier of the human genome — the Y chromosome — has just been mapped out in its entirety. Led by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), a team of researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and many other organizations used…

New research shows how cancer rewires a key immune pathway to spread

A study led by researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and Weill Cornell Medicine discovered a new relationship between cancer cells and the immune system, and shows how cancer can selfishly hijack a normally helpful immune pathway. Usually, activation of this key immune pathway — called the STING…

Graphene discovery could help generate hydrogen cheaply and sustainably

Researchers from The University of Warwick and the University of Manchester have finally solved the long-standing puzzle of why graphene is so much more permeable to protons than expected by theory. A decade ago, scientists at The University of Manchester demonstrated that graphene is permeable to protons, nuclei of hydrogen…

Adding immunity to human kidney-on-a-chip advances cancer drug testing

A growing repertoire of cell and molecule-based immunotherapies is offering patients with indomitable cancers new hope by mobilizing their immune systems against tumor cells. An emerging class of such immunotherapeutics, known as T cell bispecific antibodies (TCBs), are of growing importance with several TCBs that the U.S. Food and Drug…

Fungus gnats as pollinators not pests

Many plants and crops rely on insects to pollinate them so they can reproduce. A new study has shown that several flowering plants from the group Euonymus are pollinated by fungus gnats, a dipteran insect. Specifically, they pollinate Euonymus plants which have red-petaled flowers with short stamens and yogurt-like scent.…

Planning algorithm enables high-performance flight

A tailsitter is a fixed-wing aircraft that takes off and lands vertically (it sits on its tail on the landing pad), and then tilts horizontally for forward flight. Faster and more efficient than quadcopter drones, these versatile aircraft can fly over a large area like an airplane but also hover…

Sedentary time in children linked with heart damage in young adulthood

Hours of inactivity during childhood could be setting the stage for heart attacks and strokes later in life, according to research presented at ESC Congress 2023.1 The study found that sedentary time accumulated from childhood to young adulthood was associated with heart damage — even in those with normal weight…

Listening to nanoscale earthquakes

A recent UNSW-led paper published in Nature Communications presents an exciting new way to listen to avalanches of atoms in crystals. The nanoscale movement of atoms when materials deform leads to sound emission. This so-called crackling noise is a scale-invariant phenomenon found in various material systems as a response to…

Melting Austrian glacier gives up body of long-dead man | CNN

CNN  —  A mountain guide found the body of a man believed to have died more than 20 years ago on a glacier in Austria, police announced on Tuesday. The guide discovered the body on Friday on East Tyrol’s Schlatenkees glacier at an altitude of approximately 2,900 meters (9,500 feet)…

Latest news on Russia’s war in Ukraine

Ukrainian forces appear to have stepped up their efforts to weaken Russian air superiority in the war by attacking bases that house supersonic warplanes deep inside Russian territory. Kyiv said it had carried out a drone strike on the Shaykovka Russian military air facility some 200 kilometers (130 miles) northeast of the Ukrainian…

AI can predict certain forms of esophageal and stomach cancer

In the United States and other western countries, a form of esophageal and stomach cancer has risen dramatically over the last five decades. Rates of esophageal adenocarcinoma, or EAC, and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma, or GCA, are both highly fatal. However, Joel Rubenstein, M.D., M.S., a research scientist at the Lieutenant…

Cells with an ear for music release insulin

Diabetes is a condition in which the body produces too little or no insulin. Diabetics thus depend on an external supply of this hormone via injection or pump. Researchers led by Martin Fussenegger from the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH Zurich in Basel want to make the…

Study adds to evidence that Parkinson’s starts in the gut

Ask any neurologist: Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder. The conspicuous symptoms of Parkinson’s disease — uncontrollable tremors, slowed down motions, and the feeling that one’s feet are stuck to the ground — all stem from the loss of neurons in a region of the brain that helps control movement.…

Engineers use kirigami to make ultrastrong, lightweight structures

Cellular solids are materials composed of many cells that have been packed together, such as a honeycomb. The shape of those cells largely determines the material’s mechanical properties, including its stiffness or strength. Bones, for instance, are filled with a natural material that enables them to be lightweight, but stiff…

Researchers discover potential target for gastric cancers associated with Epstein-Barr virus

Now, scientists at The Wistar Institute have discovered a potential target for gastric cancers associated with Epstein-Barr Virus; study results were published in the journal mBio. In the paper, Wistar’s Tempera lab investigates the epigenetic characteristics of gastric cancer associated with the Epstein-Barr Virus: EBVaGC. In evaluating EBVaGC’s epigenetics —…

How bacteria surf cargo through the cell

Bacteria live in nearly every habitat on earth including within soil, water, acidic hot springs and even within our own guts. Many are involved in fundamental processes like fermentation, decomposition and nitrogen fixation. But scientists don’t understand a fundamental process within bacteria cells: how they organize themselves before division. Driving…

Mapping methane emissions from rivers around globe reveals surprising sources

Freshwater ecosystems account for half of global emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. Rivers and streams, especially, are thought to emit a substantial amount of that methane, but the rates and patterns of these emissions at global scales remain largely undocumented. An international team…

Neuroscientists create new resource to improve Alzheimer’s disease research models

A new study by Indiana University School of Medicine researchers uses more genetically diverse mouse models to study the accumulation and spread of abnormal tau protein deposits in the brain — a known sign of Alzheimer’s disease and several other neurodegenerative diseases. The study’s findings, recently published in the Journal…

Why childhood adversity impacts how a person’s behavior is judged

It’s human nature to be judgmental. But why do we place less blame on someone, or give more praise, if we find out that person had a history of suffering in childhood? In a recent study, University of Missouri researchers discovered why someone’s childhood adversity influences how others judge their…

Keep fit to avoid heart rhythm disorder and stroke

A study in more than 15,000 people has found that physical fitness is linked with a lower likelihood of developing atrial fibrillation and stroke. The research is presented at ESC Congress 2023. Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disorder, affecting more than 40 million people worldwide. It is…

Heat sensor protects the Venus flytrap from fire

The Venus flytrap can survive in the nutrient-poor swamps of North and South Carolina because it compensates for the lack of nitrogen, phosphate and minerals by catching and eating small animals. It hunts with snap traps that have sensory hairs on them. If an insect touches these hairs two times,…

The trio — nickel, palladium, and platinum — for enhanced hydrogen evolution

According to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, there were approximately 30,000 hydrogen-powered vehicles registered by 2022, representing a threefold increase compared to 2018. However, the country only has 135 hydrogen fueling stations. In order to enhance the accessibility of hydrogen-powered vehicles and establish hydrogen as a…